An escape to Champagne is always a good idea - especially with the arrival of spring and the need for green.
Maison Leclerc Briant, a confidential small luxury hotel, welcomes us as friends in Epernay.
Le 25Bis by Leclerc Briant: the art of French hospitality
Sleeping on Avenue de Champagne, where the greatest French houses parade, an hour after leaving Paris.
Tempting, isn't it?
25Bis by Leclerc Briant is a family house recently turned into a luxurious guest house: five rooms, each different, each with its own character - like the children of a sibling.
Antique furniture revamped with blue, gray or celadon velvet, Meljac light switches, Carrara marble in all shapes and sizes in the bathrooms, ultra-comfortable bedding, crackling fireplaces, gourmet breakfast served by attentive staff among tapestries from the Zuber factory: everything here is refined. The must: self-service Gallimard books, which we are happy to read by the fire while enjoying a vintage Champagne.
And our guests?
Let's talk about them!
The man who whispers in the ears of the barrels
Sparkling blue eyes, clear and deep. A radiant smile, a face that lights up as soon as he talks about wine, winemaking, barrels, and Nature: Hervé Jestin is an immense oenologist.
He receives us as friends at Leclerc Briant, a confidential Champagne House, but open to all those curious to discover its unique universe: it is the first French vineyard to offer biodynamic champagne.
He works very closely with nature and the terroirs; he listens to the wine and its resonances; he respects the seasons, follows the cycle of the moon and the stars, which dictate every gesture in the vineyard and in the cellars. An enlightened druid!
What a privilege to taste Abyss, whose bottles were immersed for a full year in the sea, 60 meters deep! Or Les Basses Prières, which comes from a micro parcel in Hautvillers 1er cru.
Emotion is at the heart of the creative process and also of the tasting.
More than ever, at a time when the Earth is suffering, this discourse of respect, of listening, this praise of slowness, of patience and of passion can only move us.
Juliana Angotti , founder of Hiddenist
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